People who suffer from sleep apnea and do not receive proper treatment are more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, reveals a new study conducted by the University of Oregon Health & Science and the VA Portland Health Care System.
By Franklin Delgado
Los Angeles, November 30 (La Opinion).- A new study published in JAMA Neurology reveals that people with obstructive sleep apnea untreated have a significantly increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. It points out that the risk can be significantly reduced by improving sleep quality through the use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).
This finding is the result of the analysis of more than 11 million medical records of military veterans between 1999 and 2022, carried out by the Univesity de Oregon Health & Science and the Portland VA Health Care System.
Meanwhile, Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disease that affects approximately one million people in the United States and the risk progressively increases for people over 60 years of age.
Effects of continuous positive pressure
Using CPAP devices to treat apnea can significantly reduce the risk of Parkinson’s. The data indicate that those who used CPAP were almost half as likely to develop the disease compared to those who did not receive treatment. Experts advocate a preventive approach that prioritizes sleep quality.
“It’s by no means a guarantee that you’re going to get Parkinson’s, but it does significantly increase the odds,” said co-author Dr. Gregory Scott, an assistant professor of pathology at the OHSU School of Medicine and a pathologist at the VA Portland.
Let’s remember that sleep apnea is a common condition in which a person’s breathing stops and starts many times during sleep, preventing the body from getting enough oxygen.
“If you stop breathing and oxygen is not at a normal level, your neurons are probably not functioning at a normal level either,” said senior author Dr. Lee Neilson, an assistant professor of neurology at OHSU and a staff neurologist at the Portland VA.
“If we add that up night after night, year after year, we could explain why solving the problem by using CPAP can generate some resilience against neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s,” he added.
It is noted that many veterans who use CPAP report better well-being and energy. Raising awareness of the link between sleep apnea and increased risk of Parkinson’s could motivate more patients to seek treatment, thus potentially reducing the incidence of this neurodegenerative disease in the older population.
Sleep quality and neurodegenerative health
Sleep quality has a significant impact on long-term neurodegenerative health. Sleeping less than five hours a night or having fragmented, poor-quality sleep can significantly increase the risk of developing diseases such as Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
In addition, chronic lack of sleep accelerates the aging of brain immune cells (microglia), impairs the functioning of the brain’s immune system, and makes it difficult to eliminate toxins and harmful proteins associated with these diseases.
During deep sleep, the brain activates the lymphatic system that eliminates toxins accumulated during the day, including those related to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The interruption of a restful sleep prevents this cleaning, favoring the accumulation of toxic proteins that accelerate cell death and cognitive deterioration. Chronic sleep deprivation is also associated with increased brain inflammation and neurohormonal alterations, which negatively affect cognitive and metabolic function.
Chronic insomnia, sleep apnea, and frequent changes in circadian rhythms (e.g., shift work) severely affect the quality of rest and increase the risk of neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, improving sleep hygiene and promoting adequate rest are key strategies to preserve brain health, reduce the risk of cognitive decline, and delay the development of neurodegenerative pathologies.